NRG Therapeutics, a Stevenage, UK-based neuroscience company, raised £16M in Series A funding.
The round was led by Omega Funds with participation from Brandon Capital and Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech. In connection with the financing, Omega Funds Managing Director Claudio Nessi and Partner Francesco Draetta, as well as Brandon Capital Partner Jonathan Tobin, have joined its Board of Directors.
The company intends to use the funds to advance its first-in-class brain-penetrant small molecules through IND-enabling studies.
Led by CEO Dr Neil Miller, NRG Therapeutics is applying science in the field of mitochondrial biology to develop disease-modifying therapeutics to slow or halt the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and ALS (also known as motor neurone disease or MND). Its pre-clinical pipeline includes small molecule assets which inhibit the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) through a novel mechanism of action.
NRG is targeting a novel pathological mechanism in ALS, through which the protein TDP-43 triggers neuroinflammation via activation of the innate immune sensor STING, that was identified by its collaborator Professor Seth Masters, at Australia’s WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research). Following the financing, Professor Masters has joined the NRG management team as VP of Discovery Biology. His laboratory at WEHI in Melbourne, Australia, will also include a sponsored team as part of a research agreement between NRG and WEHI. In addition, NRG has also expanded its UK R&D and operational base with a recent move to the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC).
FinSMEs
09/11/2022